


Star of Amanda

by hlravensnest_archivist



Category: Highlander: The Raven
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2007-12-31
Updated: 2007-12-31
Packaged: 2018-12-16 22:16:42
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,123
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11838105
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hlravensnest_archivist/pseuds/hlravensnest_archivist
Summary: Note from Daire, the archivist: this story was originally archived atHL Raven's Nest. Deciding to give the stories a more long-term home, I began importing its works to the AO3 as an Open Doors-approved project in August 2017. I e-mailed all creators about the move and posted announcements, but may not have reached everyone. If you are (or know) this creator, please contact me using the e-mail address onHL Raven's Nest's collection profile.





	Star of Amanda

**Author's Note:**

> Note from Daire, the archivist: this story was originally archived at [HL Raven's Nest](http://fanlore.org/wiki/HL_Raven%27s_Nest). Deciding to give the stories a more long-term home, I began importing its works to the AO3 as an Open Doors-approved project in August 2017. I e-mailed all creators about the move and posted announcements, but may not have reached everyone. If you are (or know) this creator, please contact me using the e-mail address on [HL Raven's Nest's collection profile](http://archiveofourown.org/collections/hlravensnest/profile).

Star of Amanda by RSSacchi

  
  
  


_Star of Amanda_

By RSSacchi 

* * *

Amanda hears Nick's distinctive knock on her door. "Come in, Nick." Nick enters Amanda's suite. 

"Good morning, Nick." 

"Good afternoon Amanda. I've got a job that is a perfect match for you." 

"Oh." 

"A big diamond is going on a special exhibit in a museum here in Paris." 

Amanda puts on a big smile. "Are we going to steal it?" 

"No, we are going to make sure it doesn't get stolen." 

Amanda fakes disappointment. "Oh well. Which diamond is it anyway?" 

"It's called The Star of Luise." 

"Well, been there, done that anyway." 

"You've stolen it before?" 

"More than once." 

* * *

**BAVARIA 1804**

Amanda is at a masked ball thrown by the Prince and Princess von Fernbrugg. Princess Luise von Fernbrugg is showing off the necklace her husband gave to her. It has the largest diamond Amanda has ever seen. She knew she would have great opportunities at this ball but she didn't realize it would be that great. Amanda closely watches the rotund Princes Luise, waiting for the opportunity to take the necklace. When the Prince announces there will be a fireworks display Amanda knows that will be her opportunity. She gets close to the Princess and while everyone is looking up at the fireworks Amanda takes the necklace. Amanda melts her way through the crowd then slips off into the darkness. She makes her way to a waiting horse and rides off into the night. Amanda wonders how long it will be before someone notices the necklace is gone. 

* * *

**PRESENT TIME**

As Amanda, Nick, and Bert walk up the museum's steps they feel the rush of another Immortal. 

Nick whispers to Amanda, "Here we go again." 

A petite woman in a calf length box skirt and a blazer emerges from the museum's entrance. Bert quickens his pace while Nick and Amanda lag behind. 

"A friend of yours?" 

"An acquaintance." 

Nick grits his teeth and quickens his pace as Bert greets and shakes hands with the woman. 

"Ms. Barclay, I'd like you to meet my associates. This is Nick Wolfe, he's the head of my European branch. This is --" 

"Amanda, Amanda --" 

"Montrose. Pleased to meet you again, Beulah." 

Bert looks at the two women. "You two know each other?" 

Amanda smiles. "Yes we met a long time ago. We haven't seen each other in ages." 

Bert turns to Nick. "Well Nick, this is Beulah Barclay, Danielle Girardot's personal assistant." 

"L-Let me take you to meet Ms. Girardot. She's giving some reporters a history lesson on The Star of Luise." 

Beulah quivers as she walks. They walk into a jewels gallery. A rotund, middle-aged woman with a cane speaks next to an empty stand: 

"…The last time it was stolen was in Oslo in 1985. The Star of Luise wasn't recovered for three years. So while the Star of Luise isn't the biggest or most expensive jewel in the world it has the distinction of being the most stolen. Any questions?" 

Nick's looks over at Amanda, who replies with a grin and a shrug. Danielle Girardot fields a few questions then ends the press conference and the reporters file out of the gallery. Beulah leads the three security experts to Danielle Girardot. 

"Ms. Girardot, this is Bert Myers. This is Nick Wolfe and Amanda Montrose, they work for Mr. Myers." 

Bert points to Amanda. "Actually, Amanda is a consultant. She's an expert on museum security." 

"I see. Beulah, you can explain the security to them." 

"Yes, Ma'am." Beulah walks to the stand. 

"This is where the Star of Luise will be displayed. It will be under a glass case and there are a series of laser lights on the stand. When activated, they reach sensors on the ceiling. If the light is blocked that will trigger a silent alarm. The floor itself is wired so one kilo of pressure per square inch will also trigger an alarm." 

* * *

**OSLO 1985**

It's a moonless night as Amanda walks along a museum's roof. She has on a black body sock and night vision goggles. She puts down her bag next to a skylight. She hooks one end of a rope around an exhaust vent then clips the rope onto her harness. She climbs through the skylight then jumps down. The rope stops her fall one meter above the floor. Amanda swings her way to the wall case that contains the Star of Luise and uses a suction cup to hold herself in position then uses a glasscutter to cut a hole in the glass. She reaches in and takes the Star of Luise. _Back in my hands again._

* * *

**PRESENT TIME**

A stern knock on Amanda's door wakes her. She looks at her clock to see it's 9:37 AM. She gets out of bed and puts on her black robe. The knock sounds like an angry Nick. Amanda opens the door to see a Nick looking as angry as his knock. 

"Why are you waking me so early?" 

"Beulah came by." 

* * *

**20 MINUTES EARLIER**

I felt another Immortal, then Beulah walked into my office. She had on a short, low cut red dress. She wore a ton of makeup and her perfume must have been sold by the gallon. 

"Nick." 

"Amanda is still sleeping." 

"It's you I want to talk to. I know a heist is in the works. I was just wondering how much you'd be willing to give me to keep quiet. Enough that you would actually give me and let me keep my head." 

"Amanda has changed. There's no heist in the works." 

"If you give me something that would make me a co-conspirator, so I couldn't say anything." 

"Why are you talking to me instead of Amanda?" 

* * *

**PRESENT TIME**

"Then she told me about another time you stole the Star of Luise." 

Amanda looks at the floor. 

* * *

**CHICAGO 1930**

Amanda, Jack "Slim" Rose, and Harry "Wheels" Fischer discuss their plans to heist the Star of Luise from a private collector. Amanda loves the irony; it ended up in the private collection because Amanda stole the Star from a museum. Amanda senses Beulah Barclay, Slim's girlfriend. As far as Slim knows Beulah is a girl who recently came off the bus from Bloomingdale. He doesn't know Beulah Barclay is an Immortal who had her first death in the Great Chicago Fire. 

Slim reiterates the plan. Amanda is suspicious Beulah hasn't announced her presence. Amanda quietly excuses herself then walks out the side door and peeks around the corner. Beulah has her back to Amanda and her head to the door. Amanda watches for a few moments then creeps over to Beulah. Amanda puts her hand firmly over Beulah's mouth and pulls her away from the door. 

Amanda whispers in Beulah's ear, "Peeking through keyholes are we? Didn't anyone ever tell you curiosity killed the cat? Listen sister, if anything goes wrong with our plans I will hunt you down and take your head. Do you understand?" 

Beulah nervously nods her head and Amanda lets her go. 

* * *

**PRESENT TIME**

Nick gives Amanda a burning stare. 

"Nick, I wasn't going to hurt her." 

"She didn't know that then and she doesn't know it now." 

"Didn't you tell her?" 

"Yes, but why would she believe me?" 

"What was I supposed to do? Call off the heist --" Amanda throws up her hands. "Look I was a thief." 

"The plane lands at one. We'll try to have a moment alone with Beulah. You've got three quarters of a century worth of apologizing to do so you'd better spend the rest of the morning practicing." 

Nick walks out. Amanda gives a grunting exhale. 

* * *

Amanda buttonholes Beulah at the museum. Nick watches from across the hallway as Amanda whisks Beulah into a side gallery. Beulah has a frightened look. 

"Don't worry Beulah, I don't bite. Look Beulah, I'm sorry about threatening you. I wouldn't have hurt you, you have to believe that. I'm a thief not a murderer." 

"Nick spoke to you didn't he?" 

"Yes, he did. Nick isn't a thief. Can't we just start again?" 

"Isn't it a little late for that? Thank you for not threatening me this time. So you're saying you don't expect the Star to disappear this time?" 

"Not with Nick and me on the case. You know, set a thief to catch a thief." 

* * *

The Star is on its stand, beneath a glass case. Bert switches on the laser lights on the stand. Amanda gets Nick and Beulah to help her methodically check each of the laser lights as Danielle Girardot watches approvingly. The check is unnecessary but Amanda hopes it will convince Beulah she's on the level. 

Bert comes in and announces, "The floor alarm will go on in five minutes." 

The entourage walks out of the gallery. Amanda notices Danielle Girardot hasn't yet made it out of the gallery. They hear a short scream and a body fall in the next gallery. Everyone rushes back into the gallery. Danielle Girardot is on the floor. Nick and Bert help Danielle Girardot to her feet. 

"I'm so sorry. Thank you." 

Danielle hurries towards the door. Beulah tries to slow her down. "Ms. Girardot you should rest a moment." 

"I'm fine. We'd better get out of here before the alarm goes off." 

Danielle leads the entourage out the door. 

* * *

Amanda and Nick step inside the museum. The gallery is marked off as a crime scene. Beulah gives Amanda and Nick a sideways glance. There is an empty stand Amanda glances up at the ceiling and sees what looks like an arrow stuck to the ceiling. 

"Obviously wire work was involved." 

Nick looks up and whispers, "More than one." 

"Probably, but one person could do it if they were good." 

"You got an alibi for last night." 

"Not funny Nick." 

Bert walks over. "How did they manage? The only thing that doesn't belong there is that rod sticking out of the ceiling and it's in the middle of nowhere." 

Amanda points. "The vent." 

"But that's a good twenty feet away from the rod, and the rod is straight up and down." 

"It'll help if we had a ladder to get up there." 

"They're getting one now." 

Moments later four police officers carry a ladder into the gallery then stand the ladder on its wheels. 

Amanda blurts out, "Mind if I have a look?" 

A middle-aged police detective retorts, "We will investigate first. This is a police matter." 

Amanda looks at the ceiling. 

* * *

**LONDON 1972**

Amanda looks at the ceiling from the inside of a vent. She wraps a hook around the vent's grate and gives a couple of palm strikes against the grate; knocking it loose. Times like this is when her Hapkido training pays off. Amanda pulls the grate into the vent. She puts suction cups on her hand and knees. Amanda climbs along the ceiling until she is over the Star of Luise then hammers an ice anchor into the ceiling. She clips onto the anchor then descends to two feet above the Star of Luise. She uses a suction cup to grip and raise the glass case covering the gem and scoops up the jeweled necklace with her fingers. She gives it an admiring look; once again the Star of Luise belongs to her. 

* * *

**PRESENT TIME**

The police detective summarizes what the police and Bert Myers' people believe they know: 

> While there may have been more than one person involved in the theft there was only one culprit who actually entered the gallery. The entrance was through the vent. The culprit crawled across the ceiling, and then dropped down from the ceiling, presumably to the exhibit's height. Then lifted the case and removed the necklace without triggering the active laser sensors. The culprit was light in weight, either a woman or an unusually light man and had a detailed knowledge of the museum and the exhibit's security. 

The police detective seemed to divide his looks between Amanda and Beulah. Amanda realizes she will soon be the number one suspect. Amanda feels she has to say something. "So we are looking for either a supermodel or a jockey." 

Bert turns to Amanda. "Amanda, please, this is no time for jokes." 

* * *

Nick and Amanda are in Nick's office when they sense another Immortal. They look at each other and simultaneously say "Beulah". 

Nick remarks, "I'm surprised it took her this long." 

"There must have been a traffic jam." 

Beulah steps into Nick's office. She has on a black pants suit. "Okay Nick, I need to know were you stand." 

"I want to catch the person or persons who did it." 

"Well then, you can just reach over and grab her." 

Amanda speaks up indignantly, "I didn't do it." 

Beulah sarcastically retorts, "Oh that convinces me you're innocent." 

Amanda feels like threatening her, but holds her tongue. 

Nick interjects, "Beulah, I know it's hard to believe but Amanda has changed." 

"Has she? She's been stealing for over 1,000 years. How long has she been straight? It's a blip on a screen for her." 

"You're smaller and lighter than I am. You could have done it." 

"I'm not a thief." 

"Maybe you wanted to do it to get even with me." 

"How was I supposed to know you would be called in as a 'consultant'?" 

Nick interjects, "I think if we work together we might come up with a suspect who isn't in this room." 

"There are only a handful of fences in the Paris area who would handle something this large. There's a high end fence I did some business with who's still in business." 

* * *

Amanda walks into Nick's office, two shopping bags in her hands. 

"Your friend the fence is in a shopping mall?" 

"No, but I was running around all day so I figured I'd get in a teensy bit of shopping." 

"In between boutiques did you find out anything about the case?" 

"No, whoever it is didn't do any post-larceny planning." 

"An amateur?" 

"No way. No beginner could be that lucky." 

"So whoever it is doesn't want to cash in right away. Like an Immortal." 

"That brings you back to the original two suspects." 

"I'm afraid so." 

* * *

Amanda turns to Nick. "You know those old war movies where the Germans are at a bridge looking for the Partisans. They look everywhere but under the bridge." 

"Where the Partisans are?" 

"Exactly." 

"I don't understand." 

They feel the rush of another Immortal. Moments later Beulah walks into Nick's office. 

"This may sound silly but I was watching this old comedy. There was this scene where somebody pushed in a book on a bookshelf and the wall turns around." 

Beulah makes a turning motion with her hand. Amanda smiles and walks over to Beulah. 

"It's not silly at all darling. I was thinking the same thing." 

"So you two are saying it's still inside the stand?" 

Amanda smiles. "What we're saying is it's worth a checking out." 

* * *

Amanda and Beulah are kneeling by the stand as Nick watches. Beulah feverishly pushes and pulls at the stand. Amanda carefully examines the stand and notices a small hole in the stand. 

"Beulah, do you have a bobby pin?" 

Beulah takes a pin out of her hair and hands it to her. Amanda sticks the pin in the hole and the stand pops open. The Star of Luise is inside. Nick rushes to the stand. Amanda examines the inside closely. 

"A mirror image. You were right about the revolving bookcase, darling. What's this? A cellphone. The phone rings, the inside top flips and as far as everyone knows The Star has left the building. This exonerates both of us." 

Nick gives a skeptical look. "How do you figure?" 

"The only way someone can get away with this is if no one looks inside the stand. Nobody would lead others to it." 

Beulah smiles. "I have to admit you're right." 

Nick points his chin at the stand. "Who purchased the stand?" 

Beulah's look turns to worried. "They were the lowest bidder." 

Nick remarks in a monotone voice, "It's easy to be the lowest bidder if this is the bonus." 

Amanda contradicts, "There probably is a bonus but I doubt if this is it. A little bit for the extra work and a few thousand for silence." 

Nick looks to the ceiling. "That arrow in the ceiling is an elaborate diversion." Nick opens his cell phone. 

* * *

Amanda and Nick watch behind a one way mirror as Danielle Girardot tells the police how she carried out her attempted theft: 

> ...After the work crew left for the evening I climbed the ladder up to the vent. I used a long rope with a hook at the end and hooked to the vent. Then when I was at the last step I reached up and grabbed the rope. I jumped down the last step. It was a matter of using my weight to my advantage. Then it was a matter of picking the vent up and putting it back. It back well enough that no one would notice anything was wrong until you investigated it. That would point to an entry through the vent. The spear in the roof was the final touch. It was a matter of being the last one to leave. I pointed my cane towards the roof and fired as I yelled 'oops' and dropped to the floor. All eyes would be on me, not the ceiling. It worked perfectly. Then it was a matter of making a simple telephone call and the Star was in the bag, or should I say, stand. 

* * *

**EPILOGUE**

The Sanctuary is closed. Amanda, Nick and Beulah sit at the bar and watch the television. The screen shows Danielle Girardot stepping out of prison to a hero's welcome from mature women. The news anchor explains the scene as Danielle Girardot waves to the crowd and makes her way to a limousine. 

> Danielle Girardot walked out of prison today to a crowd of well-wishers. Ms. Girardot gained a following because she stole the Star of Luise. Investigators initially believed the crime was committed by a young and nimble thief. Ms. Girardot used her brain instead of her body to carry out the theft. 

A disgusted Beulah shakes her head. "She tries to steal something worth millions and what does she get. Six months, celebrity status, a book and movie deal worth more than the value of what she wanted to steal." 

A sullen Nick nods agreement. "Who says crime doesn't pay." 

Amanda gives a sly smile. "Probably someone who is too clumsy to be a thief." 

Nick retorts, "I think Danielle Girardot debunked that theory as well." 

**THE END**

* * *

© 2007   
Please send comments to the author! 

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